Nonviolent Revolutions

Civil Resistance in the Late 20th Century

Sharon Erickson Nepstad

Unlike other studies of revolutions focused exclusively on armed struggles, this book examines revolutionary movements that are fought through nonviolent means.

The book takes a comparative approach, examining cases that achieved their goals as well as those that failed, thus offering unique insights into the factors that can shape outcomes or derail civil resistance campaigns.

Nonviolent Revolutions

Civil Resistance in the Late 20th Century

Sharon Erickson Nepstad

Description

In the spring of 1989, Chinese workers and students captured global attention as they occupied Tiananmen Square, demanded political change, and were tragically suppressed by the Chinese army. Months later, East German civilians rose up nonviolently, brought down the Berlin Wall, and dismantled their regime. Although both movements used tactics of civil resistance, their outcomes were different. Why?

In Nonviolent Revolutions, Sharon Erickson Nepstad examines these and other uprisings in Panama, Chile, Kenya, and the Philippines. Taking a comparative approach that includes both successful and failed cases of nonviolent resistance, Nepstad analyzes the effects of movements' strategies along with the counter-strategies regimes developed to retain power. She
shows that a significant influence on revolutionary outcomes is security force defections, and explores the reasons why soldiers defect or remain loyal and the conditions that increase the likelihood of mutiny. She then examines the impact of international sanctions, finding that they can at times harm movements by generating new allies for authoritarian leaders or by shifting the locus of power from local civil resisters to international actors.

Nonviolent Revolutions offers essential insights into the challenges that civil resisters face and elucidates why some of these movements failed. With a recent surge of popular uprisings across the Middle East, this book provides a valuable new understanding of the dynamics and potency of civil resistance and nonviolent revolt.

Nonviolent Revolutions

Civil Resistance in the Late 20th Century

Sharon Erickson Nepstad

Author Information

Sharon Erickson Nepstad is Professor of Sociology at the University of New Mexico. She is the author of Convictions of the Soul (OUP 2004) and Religion and War Resistance in the Plowshares Movement, which won the 2009 Outstanding Book Award from the American Sociological Association's section on Peace, War, and Social Conflict.

Nonviolent Revolutions

Civil Resistance in the Late 20th Century

Sharon Erickson Nepstad

Reviews and Awards

Winner of the 2012 Outstanding Book Award from the Peace, War, and Social Conflict section of the American Sociological Association

"Leon Trotsky once wrote that the fate of every revolution is ultimately decided by the loyalties of the armed forces. Sharon Erickson Nepstad shows that Trotsky was right. Since Nepstad's book went to press the wisdom of her analysis has been reconfirmed by the success of nonviolent uprisings against dictators in Tunisia and Egypt-mass rebellions that convinced armed forces to jump ship. Explaining past rebellions is hard enough, but successfully predicting the success of future uprisings is genius!" --Jeff Goodwin, Professor of Sociology, New York University

"Using six cases of nonviolent revolutions, Sharon Nepstad uncontroversially, but importantly, shows that mass grievances and elite divisions played an important role in supporting the three successful cases; controversially, and just as importantly, international intervention did not. As American leaders are engaged in intervening in the Middle Eastern revolutions of 2011, decision-makers as well as scholars will want to weigh carefully the results of Nepstad's analyses." --Sidney Tarrow, Professor of Government and Sociology, Cornell University, and author of Power in Movement

"Sharon Erickson Nepstad has written a timely and concise treatment of social movement strategy and political change in Nonviolent Revolutions: Civil Resistance in the Late 20th Century... Nepstad has written a profoundly useful book which should serve as a model for experts seeking to design a tightly-argued comparative project, as well as a reference for movement practitioners and advocates of nonviolence. The book would also be an excellent teaching tool for undergraduates in social movements and methods courses, and will certainly spark discussion for anyone interested in latter-day events like the Arab Spring." --Contemporary Sociology